Observations, articles, opinions etc. in Dutch and English. The author, Bert de Bruin (Yonathan Dror Bar-On), is a Dutch-Jewish historian, who has specialized in modern Jewish history and in the history of the Middle East, and who in 1995 emigrated from the Netherlands to Israel. He wrote one book (2008), and edited another (2011), both in Dutch. For feedback please post a comment, or send this blog's author an email: (hisdutchname)atyahoodotcom

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

It is perfecly legitimate and fair to postpone the implementation of the disengagement plan until after the fast on the ninth of the month Av. What does worry me, though, is the fact that once again it has become clear how badly thought-out Israel's policies often are. Didn't any politician or anybody in the security forces notice that part of the evacuation was planned in the first days of that month? The same goes for the proposal to move some Gaza settlements en bloc to an area near Ashkelon, within the Green Line. It was launched suddenly, without anybody thinking of its environmental, financial and other consequences. A few weeks after its introduction the project already has become an organic part of the public and political discourse regarding the disengagement plan.

Of course, it already has been suggested to postpone the plan's implementation even more, until after Simhat Thorah ( October 25th ). With these kinds of short-term non-plans and improvised schemes we can expect much more of the unexpected in the coming months. For instance, personally I would not be surprised if for internal political reasons our prime minister decides to attack Iran in the days or weeks leading to the ( planned ) evacuation of any settlements. Let us not forget that our prime minister is hardly predictable. As we say in Dutch, a fox loses his hair, but not his tricks ( according to my dictionary the English equivalent of this saying is +/- " the leopard cannot change his spots" ).